Prince Fielder has agreed to a nine-year, $214MM deal with the Tigers. It’ll offset the loss of V-Mart for 2012.

I don’t know if Prince will DH or play 1B. Miggy Cabrera could move back to 3B, but the Tigers lose out defensively there. Of course, Wilson Betemit just went to the Orioles, and Brandon Inge hit only .197 last year. (Update: Prince plays 1B, Cabrera to 3B, DH or RF).

Which reminds me of yet another DH candidate still out there… Magglio. (There are lots of them, aren’t there?). You wonder how low some of them will drop in their salary demands.

More to come.

Oh yeah,…. like father (Cecil) like son. I still remember Cecil hitting balls over the old Tiger Stadium roof.

Francisco Cordero goes to Toronto. He’ll be 37 in May, has 327 career saves, and was 5-3, 2.45, 37 saves for the Reds in 2011.

Gary Sheffield made it official, announcing his retirement. Sheffield didn’t play in the majors in 2010. In his last season, 2009, Sheff hit .276-10-43 for the Mets as a platoon player. OPS+119. Not a bad way to go out.

Sheffield will be on the HOF ballot after the 2014 season. I doubt he’ll make it. He should, based on what he did on the field. But the taint of BALCO…

The bad: In the Mitchell report. BALCO. A often surly personality. The way he left Milwaukee (and some other places, which contributed to Milw. 1988-1991, SD 1992-1993, FLA 1993-1998, Dodgers 1998-2001, Atlanta 2002-2003, Yankees 2004-2006, Detroit 2007-2008 and Mets 2009). For someone with 509 HR and a superb OPS+ of 140, that is a lot of teams.

Albert Pujols didn’t come to an agreement with the Cardinals and could be a free agent at the end of the season. Pujols’ first ten seasons have been unbelievable. .331. 408 HR. 3 MVPs. Top 10 for each season in the MVP voting. Besides winning it three times, he has been the runner-up four times. Only once did he finish less than 4th in the MVP vote. He’s 31. So what then, since starting in 2012, an eight-year deal would take him from ages 32 to 39? $200 MM is “only” 25 MM a year. It does seem more than fair, but is Pujols looking to match or top A-Rod’s deal? Is he looking for $30MM a year? Would you be happy paying a guy over $25 MM after he turns 35 (as the Yanks are now doing with A-Rod)?

Where would Pujols go? Who could afford him? Now that is a question. The Red Sox have Adrian Gonzalez at 1B. Youkilis at 3B. The only spot is DH (shoving the aging Ortiz aside), and you really have to doubt that Pujols (who has won two GG) would want to DH. The Yanks have Teixeira at 1B, who is excellent defensively and who costs a bundle. A-Rod is at 3B. The Yanks will need to DH A-Rod (36 in July) and Jeter (37 in June) more often. Posada could retire after 2011, so there may be an opening, but how high would the Yankees take the payroll? They already have a huge albatross with A-Rod’s contract. They’ll have to deal with Cano and Swisher soon. Not only that, if CC opts out after 2011, the Yanks HAVE to bring him back at a higher salary than he is currently making (not to mention Soriano’s opt-out clauses).

The one place Pujols could fit might be LF. But I don’t think the Yanks have the flexibility there. Nothing against Gardner, but Pujols is probably the best player in the game. As for Boston and LF, they just gave a huge multi-year deal to Carl Crawford. So with those two big bucks franchises out, where would Pujols’ landing spot be?

As far as the Yanks are concerned, the only way Pujols works probably would be if Pujols somehow could do a “reverse Ruth.” That is, if the Babe went from being one of the best pitchers of his time to being an all-time great slugger, then Pujols doing the exact opposite and going the other way around. From being one of the greatest sluggers of all time to one of the game’s best pitchers.

Too bad it can’t and won’t happen.

But imagine if it could?

BTW, Mo arrived in camp today. He was held up by some illness (flu bug?) hitting his kids.

Breaking news is that Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers was arrested on a DUI, and the details aren’t pretty. Those who remember what happened in the final weekend of 2009 have to be concerned. Cabrera is very talented (AL MVP runner-up last year) but very troubled. It could be that instead of spending spring in training camp, that he needs to spend it in rehab.

Interesting columns in the Post regarding Jeter. I wonder if they feel the same way regarding Mo’s demands? Click both links.

The AL MVP goes to Josh Hamilton of the Rangers. The Yanks’ Robbie Cano finished third. The runnerup was Miguel Cabrera. Hamilton got 22 of the 28 first place votes, Cabrera got 5, and the other went to 4th-place finisher Jose Bautista.

If the Yanks face the Twins in the first round, they will not have to face Justin Morneau. Morneau is still recovering from a concussion. In only half a season of play (80 games), Morneau was on an MVP-type pace, .345-18-56.

The Seattle Times also reports that catcher Joe Mauer returned to the Twins’ lineup for the first time since hurting his left knee 11 days ago. And shortstop J.J. Hardy also played after missing seven of the last eight games with a sore knee and migraine headaches.

I know what Yankees’ fans are thinking…but be careful what you wish for.

LoHud reports that the Red Sox were interested in Kerry Wood but were outbid by the Yankees.

Josh Hamilton will play for the Rangers, but it won’t be easy. He broke two ribs on September 4th, and Evan Longoria of the Rays has missed seven consecutive games with a strained quad.

Survival of the fittest, anyone?

And among the non-contenders, Miggy Cabrera and Felix Hernandez have been shut down…

I know that Josh Hamilton is up for MVP consideration, but the show that Miguel Cabrera and Robbie Cano put on in the last four days has them up for that as well.

Cabrera hit 4 HR in the four game series against the Yankees. But Cano, moved up to the cleanup spot with A-Rod out, hit 3 HR of his own.

Today, Cabrera hit a 2-run HR off of Hughes in the first, but Phil clamped down from there. Hughes improved to 15-5 (following CC’s 16-5 and the injured Pettitte’s 11-2), 3.90. 6 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 walks and 6 K. He retired his last 11.

The Yanks tied it in the 4th on rbi by Swisher and the resurgent Granderson.

The Yanks broke it open with 9 in the sixth. Teixeira walks, Cano doubles to make it 3-2. Swisher walks. Posada singles in a run, 4-2. Granderson walks to load the bases. Kearns doubles in two. 6-2. After Pena made out, a walk to Gardner but ball four is a passed ball. 7-2. Jeter two-run triple. Cano hits HR #24. 11-2.

Mitre finished up the last three innings and got the “save.” 3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 1 walk and 3K. No offense, but a performance that should not have received the questionable “save” statistic. The first save of his career. ERA 3.86.

Cano 3 for 5, 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Kearns two hits and 2 RBI.

Oakland came back on the Rays. Yanks up by 1 over Tampa, 6 1/2 on Boston.

Thinking magic #’s? It’s too early, but if you are interested… 41 for the division (Tampa, but the Rays are only 1 back). More realistic to consider now? 35 for a playoff spot (wild card/Boston).

Coming up? A post on great SS at age 36. We know Jeter has had a mediocre season. Not a bad season, mind you, but mediocre. Compared to the other seasons of his career, the worst season to date. When you set the bar so high, a mediocre year becomes the worst. So how does Jeter at 36 compare to other great SS at 36? I’ll be writing on that soon. Stay tuned.

A move today as Pedro Feliz, 3B for the Phils the past couple of years, goes from Houston to the Cardinals for their stretch drive.